Sixth Additional District and Sessions Judge Sayeedunnisa here has sentenced Nagesh, a 30-year-old resident of K.R. Nagar, to seven years rigorous imprisonment on finding him guilty of sexually harassing and robbing a fourth-year MBBS student from Kerala, of cash and an ATM card, at a women’s hostel in the city in 2017.
The judge on Friday sentenced Nagesh to seven years rigorous imprisonment each for the offences under Sections 457 (house break-in by night) and 397 (robbery) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and five years rigorous imprisonment each for offences under Sections 380 (theft) and 354 (assault on a woman with an intention to outrage her modesty) of the IPC. The judge imposed a total fine of ₹ 30,000 on him and said that all his sentences will run concurrently.
Nagesh was accused of entering the third floor of the women’s hotel of a medical college in Deralakatte in the early hours of December 5, 2017. The accused entered the hostel from the rear side of the building by scaling up a seven-foot high compound wall. He stole a mobile phone of a third year MBBS student on the third floor and then entered the room of the fourth-year MBBS student on the second floor at around 4.30 a.m. as she slept, without locking the door from the inside.
The accused sexually harassed her by tying her hands and legs up and also closing her mouth with a bandage. The accused took ₹ 3,000 from her purse and also made away with her ATM card. He removed ₹ 7,500 from two ATMs in the city and ₹ 200 from an ATM in K.R. Nagar. After getting treatment for injuries, the student filed a complaint with the Ullal Police. Nagesh was arrested on December 10, 2017 and then Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime and Traffic) Uma Prashanth filed the charge-sheet.
Public Prosecutor Jayaram Shetty examined 25 witnesses, including the victim, her two hostel mates, the hostel warden and the hostel security officer. The judge asked the District Legal Services Authority to take steps for awarding compensation to the victim.
